From birth to stardom

Growing up to The Sound of Music, Muppet Movie, and Annie movie soundtracks, it is easy to sight lead singer Gwen Stefani's earliest influences within her live performances of today. Once she starts it is near impossible to slow her down and out of the question to try and stop her.

Born October 3rd, 1969, at St. Jude's Hospital in Fullerton, California, Gwen has spent her entire life in Southern California. That is to say only if you exclude No Doubt's national and international tours, vacations, and her not-so-frequent-enough trips to England to visit her boyfriend.

Gwen grew up in Orange County with her parents, brothers Eric and Todd, and sister Jill. A very close family, Gwen can recall her first live performances ever being puppet shows that she and Eric would create together and perform for their neighbors. Her first singing experiences came when she would dress up with her sister Jill and their cousins, and play "Musical House". While "playing house" might have been an ordinary activity for young American girls, it's not common to make it mandatory that all words be sung and not spoken.

Gwen can first recall music having an influence on her life when she was in junior high and her brother Eric would bring home two-tone ska records by artists such as Madness and The Selecter. It was at this point that she became heavily involved in the ska scene. In addition to the aforementioned bands, Gwen also got really into L.A. bands like The Untouchables and Fishbone.

In early 1987 Gwen's brother Eric and John Spence founded what is now No Doubt. In the beginning Eric asked Gwen to share vocal duties with John. Sadly, not long after No Doubt's incarnation, John Spence committed suicide which left Gwen to rock the mic.The show must go on, and it did, as No Doubt continued to perform in local gigs. In the meantime, Gwen had graduated high school, and followed up her studies at Cal State Fullerton College.

Over the course of the next couple of years No Doubt played primarily to a ska crowd at clubs and parties. As each band member grew and accepted influences outside of the ska scene, more and more venues became available as places to showcase their ever-growing personal style.

Gwen was forced to juggle the band, her studies, as well as what turned out to be a 7-year long romance with fellow band member, Tony Kanal. In 1989, two new members joined the No Doubt team, guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young. After No Doubt was really attracting a fan base (thanks mostly to their energetic live performances), Flea, the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded a demo for the band in 1990, which led to their signing with Interscope Records.

In 1992, the band released their self-titled debut, but despite the substantial following the band had garnered, the album was far from a commercial success. Their record company was losing faith in their potential, but No Doubt's persistence did not waver.

The group went back into the studio with their own money, and recorded a collection of "extra" songs they had written. Their sophomore effort, The Beacon Street Collection, was released in 1995, and not only struck a cord with their devout fans, but also re-sparked Interscope's confidence in the band.

No Doubt was back in business and returned to the recording studio with the support of their record company. The fruit of their effort was the hugely successful Tragic Kingdom, only this one was sans Eric Stefani, who left to become an animator on The Simpsons.

1995's Tragic Kingdom broke through the charts with its debut single, "Just A Girl", with the help of the punk-tinged catchy lyrics and an accompanying colorful video. The album went on to spawn hits such as "Spiderwebs" and the super smash hit, "Don't Speak". The latter was written as an ode to the former relationship of Gwen and Tony, and must have struck a Spanish guitar chord with the public since the single has become the band's biggest smash to date and topped charts worldwide.

The album went on to become a Billboard Number One, and garnered two Grammy nominations for the group.

Going into the studio to work on their fourth album, Gwen seemed fascinated by all of the musical possibilites available and hopes to grow stronger as a lyricist.

"It's incredible," sights Gwen, "When I was growing up my parents were folk musicians and I would have never listened to Bob Dylan by choice, but now I can honestly respect so many different ways of playing music and expressing what you're trying to say."

No Doubt's release of Return of Saturn, hit the music scene in 2000, and spawned the hits "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Simple Kind of Life".

They say you can never go home again. Yet, on their new Interscope Records release and fifth album, Rock Steady, No Doubt has embarked on a globe-spanning musical adventure that proves, once and for all, that home is where the heart is.

At the heart of the quartet's fifteen-year musical journey is a sound, a style and a sensibility that celebrates their enduring bond with millions of fans worldwide: the sheer pleasure of pure pop - danceable, hummable, instantly accessible songs that have become indispensable additions to the soundtrack of our life and times. And now with Rock Steady, that soundtrack signals a return to some of the key creative elements that have made No Doubt one of today's most popular and enduring bands. Simply put, No Doubt is ready to party.

"It's the hardest thing in the world just to be simple, to let the music and the words speak for what you're feeling and, hopefully, to share that feeling. And the feeling we all shared on this album turned out to be pretty simple, too: we were in a good mood."

So says vocalist, lyricist and glorious gamine Gwen Stefani on the inspiration that ignited the dozen deliriously entertaining new tracks comprising Rock Steady. With all-original material penned by Gwen and No Doubt's dynamic songwriting duo of Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont and a roster of producers that pretty much covers the cutting edge of the studio art, Rock Steady, recorded in such far flung locations as London and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Jamaica, is without question the most eclectic, wide-ranging and stylistically diverse offering in the band's extraordinary career. It is also a loving tribute to the musical roots that have nourished No Doubt from their very inception.

"We were on tour pretty much all of last year," explains drummer Adrian Young, "and whenever we had some down time, we found ourselves listening to lots of dancehall. It was kind of like getting back to where we once belonged." Dancehall, the exuberant evolution of reggae, ska and calypso currently rocking the clubs and studios of Jamaica, proved a potent point of departure for the group when they convened in early 2001 to begin work on a new album. "We were part of the whole ska revival back when we first got together," continues Adrian. "The fact is, we had to work hard to prove we had a wider range, and I guess we did that. Because this time around we didn't feel like we had anything to prove. The whole point was to follow the music, wherever it led."

"Following the music" would lead the quartet to a variety of exotic locales as they indulged their instincts and experimented with sounds and settings that would capture the sensational new music beginning to emerge. "This album was less about technique and more about attitude," asserts Tony. "We took it one day at a time and it became a very spontaneous process. Tom had set up a studio at his place in L.A. and we'd meet there just to try out different ideas. Whereas before we'd write everything with a guitar or bass, this time we started with just beats and grooves and keyboards and built from there. After a week or two of songwriting, Gwen had a trip planned to London. Since we were having such a good time we just packed up and followed her over there. We knew we were onto something."

"It felt like starting over," is Tom's assessment. "We had spent two years working on Return Of Saturn because we felt it was important to prove we could do a record that had depth and substance. Once we got that out of our system it was time to have some fun."

Gwen is still romantically linked with the lead singer of Bush, Gavin Rossdale, and the rock star pair have been involved for at least 5 years. In 2002 they announced their plans for marriage through there long awaited engagement!!

On stage she tries to get the crowd, especially the girls, involved with the show. One night Gwen's relatives went to watch the band perform. Gwen's mom warned her to not use profanity on stage; but she did anyway. They did not speak for a week. She recently stopped wearing the bindi, which was a gift from Tony's mother. She makes her own pants (the ones with the zippers) and likes to be an individual.

One non-musical aspect of Gwen that is just as much a part of her as anything else is her interest in clothes and fashion. Admittedly a thrift store junkie, Gwen has been making her own clothes ever since her mom first made her a replica of Maria's dress from The Sound of Music to wear during a high school talent show.

Sift through the stories laid out by the sensational media and you will find the core of Gwen Stefani who is, and has always been, someone not much different than you.